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Topic: Target's new policy (Read 6020 times)

Well I went to my local Target and I asked if they had any of the VTAC Snowtroopers in the stockroom. Then the guy asked me if I was a collector. I told him I was buying it as a birthday present. He asked me about five more times before he went tot he stockroom, at which point I was really annoyed.

I asked him why he was probing me about being a collector.

"'Cause if you're a collector I can't get you a figure. Collectors hog toys from kids. "

Excuse me, but I think I have the right to buy something if that's what I would like to do with my money! Besides, I'm sure most collectors don't hog toys from children! (Save for the hotwheels scalpers). I ended up getting the figure, but I had to lie that I wasb't a collector to get it! I don't like lying.

Has this ever happened to you? If so, do you think what I did was right, and how did you react to it? I'm just wondering because Target is the store I mostly visit for SW stuff.

I'll often try a stocker first, then if denied I go to Customer Service... I also lie (to an extent) if I feel like I'm running into a brick wall on getting something I want pulled from the back.

Slightly juvenile of me, but recently (like this year earlier) I took down one of the "we can't pull **** for you because you're an adult buying toys and we aren't in a hurry to sell you toys" signs at my one Target and just let it fall under the toy rack. **** them and that asinine policy that any store manager should be ashamed of himself for promoting. Set a limit on the quantity you can buy, at the very most, of an item you have pulled from the stock room, but denying the customer access completely is like refusing to sell someone a car because you don't have the right color on your lot... YOu call till you find where the color the customer wants is, you have it brought in, you make the sale. Anything short of that is just bad business.

Targets collector policy has been around for a long time. I remember the few by me used to actually slice through packages and boxes with razor blades to prevent collectors from buying. They have gotten much better since then.

"'Cause if you're a collector I can't get you a figure. Collectors hog toys from kids. "

1. This employee is an *******.

2. Are kids not collectors? Why does a collector have to be an adult with no kids? I've seen soccer moms get hot and heavy in the star wars aisle looking for figures for their kids.

3. The ACLU might be interested in a written submission of this incident so they might have the liberty of waging a "Collector Profiling" campaign against Target in the future.

It was the first case I've encountered.

As for kids being collectors... well, they are. But Target tends to view collectors as the comic-book-guy sort of person, not kids. But I do still hold strong to the beleif that figures can go to kids first, as they were made for kids. But, I, who also sees these figures as the subject of a magnifient hobby, and I therefore have the right to buy them and ask for help find them.

I also think the charecterization of the collector is completely steriotypical! Sure there are some bad apples in every hobby, but I've still heard many a story of collectors helping kids in the aisle who are looking to buy SW stuff.

This isn't a new policy as much as it is a local store one. As many have already mentioned ..One thing that can be counted on is inconsistency from store to store.

My hometown has a store that still has the buttons on the customer scanners to enter DCPI #'s- entering the DCPI then getting an employee to get stuff works well..they can't lie to me when I tell them the DCPI'd # shows Quantities in the stockroom-works even better if there's shelfroom.

However, in my area of collecting, all Targets are anti-adult for acquistitions. Calling corporate does nothing either to these stores-all folks do when they do this is piss employees off more and make it worse for themselves. From what I've seen- complaining to 'corporate' is a powerless venture. I only can get exclusives at these stores occasionally by contacting secret employees that 'say-screw the store policy, I'm making a sale here' or pretty good results by asking for help from electronics, changing booth area, ect. Even having one store call another to set aside quantities seems to work-but for some reason when I go in anti-collecting stores they have their customer support folks anti-collector trained as well-unless there new of course .

Being a Teenager, and having my elementary aged brother with me, I normally don't get the "We can't pull anything for you" crap, When I do, its only a few employees at the areas targets that do that, and when do say that, I say that my brother is trying to get it, which is partially true, as we pool our loose collections.

Yep, it definitely depends on the store or particular employee. I've found that the younger ladies are usually nicest when it comes to this. One Target in my area (though it's kind of a far drive) has pulled stuff for me 5-6 times (every time I've requested it) while other Targets in my area are hit or miss. One store I've gone 0 for 4 asking, but I think that's more or less to do with the lady at the customer service desk.

The Target next to my house though has the coolest employee that I've ever seen - his name is Sergie, and he's just a very helpful guy. A while back when the Shuttle was out but not on the sales floor yet, he was in customer service and I asked him about it. He gladly got two out for me. Then another time, I was at customer service there and a guy said that they didn't have the Felucia battle packs in and that no Target in the area did. Then Sergie walked up and said something to the effect of "Was there something you were looking for that's not on the sales floor?" I said yeah, and he checked the computer and said they did have them in stock, and asked how many I wanted. Talk about a nice guy... and even last week, when I picked up my prescription from Target (he works in the Rx sometimes) he asked me right off the bat if I had checked the Star Wars section, that he knew they had put out some more figures that day. Talk about a good experience. I wish more employees were like that, they deserve a raise for sure.